If you are an average college student like me, the day to day life might look something like this:
You’d (probably) go to your college daily, hang out with friends, maybe get your mind blown away by realizing that the days pass away ever so slowly but the semester ends too soon and be annoyed at that one guy who asks everyone,” Bro, what are your plans for the future?”(me).
Let’s take a step back from this, try and do this exercise with me. Visualize yourself after a week’s time, what can you see yourself doing? What do you think you’ll be spending your time working on? What do you think you’ve gained? What would you be looking forward to?
When I first did this exercise I was scared shit of the fact that I couldn't visualize my time and goals past a week or two. If you think that’s scary, how about thinking 6 months ahead or a year ahead? I'd be graduating from college in 2020 and I really can't visualize myself acting upon anything up till May 2020 or beyond(except for writing my finals). This is key to today’s post, a way of treating the future as something definite, which can be shaped according to a vision or a plan instead of it as being Hazy and indefinite, which can’t be shaped and is determined by a set of random events.
If you answered the above questions or just felt uncomfortable thinking about them, settle into a chair and read on further about this trait of Definite Optimism.
Definite Optimist, simply put, is someone who believes the future will be better if she plans and works to make it better[1].
When I think about definite optimism, I like to talk about the story of someone named Vikram Sarabhai. Sarabhai was an Indian physicist who’s credited as the father of the Indian space program.
Here’s a quote from one of his speeches on his vision for Space Research:
From founding the Physical Research Laboratory (which has ongoing research on astronomy and astrophysics, earth sciences, theoretical physics, etc) to play an important role in setting up INCOSPAR (later to become ISRO) and holding the position of it's the first chairman.
Sarabhai was also a shrewd entrepreneur. He founded a number of industries to aid the space research and development movement. He along with Kasturbhai Lalbhai was primarily responsible for establishing IIM Ahemdabad.
This trait, Definite Optimism is shared among a number of successful people such as Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey and closer home Vikram Sarabhai and Abdul Kalam. This is one of the most important traits not just for individuals but also countries and their citizens (countries like Singapore surviving on limited resources yet thriving) and organizations and its employees (such as ISRO, SpaceX, Apple, etc.)
I first came upon the idea of Definite Optimism in Peter Theil's book Zero To One and have since attempted to extrapolate this concept into my life through introspection. For eg, setting up and leading organized space research in a country that could barely afford to feed its citizens post-independence requires more than just intelligence. Vikram Sarabhai was a definite optimist who could set up and follow through his plans, he believed in the power of technology in shaping the future of India.
Away from home, individuals like Elon Musk are definite Optimists, from Tesla to SpaceX, Musk's ventures play important roles in his vision of the future where interplanetary travel and a complete switch from automobiles dependent on fossil fuels is possible. Look at the definition and try to identify individuals around you who seem like definite optimists and you'll be surprised to know how many of us have long given up on the idea and instead rely on an indefinite future, which no one can predict or attempt to shape.
Try this with the people around you, ask around for their long term goals and watch out for signs of the ambiguity of purpose.
This is important to recognize in order to understand why Definite Optimism is rare. As Thiel says in his book,
The Core:
This is a delicate balance which is important to understand because it's very easy to fall in either category, either being someone with grand vision but zero design or plans to get there or having a great short term plan or design but no concrete vision.
To understand this balance we need to have a look at what I call the Optimist’s spectrum.
This spectrum defines the types of optimists that I have met. If you move to the left of the spectrum you’d meet the obsessive planners, the people who have a to-do list for everything not that there’s anything wrong with it (except maybe it’s scary), they live on a day to day basis, reacting and changing their plans every day or two. They still believe the future is going to be better, they just don’t know how it looks like yet.
As you move to the extreme right side of the spectrum we find the people with obsessive visions, they are the ones who might be able to talk about how the future might look like but have zero plans or designs to get there. They believe the future is going to be better, they just don’t know how to get there yet. They are also obsessively fixed on one singular vision, never paying attention to feedback and reflecting upon their vision.
As you come to the middle of the spectrum, we find definite optimist. The one who knows how they want the future to look like and it’ll be better but only if they plan and work towards it.
To practice setting a vision, you need to practice reflecting upon your values and desires.
Maybe you’d like to paint or bake or design or break an existing habit, think about how you’d want to achieve them. Read up on examples online or in books and talk to people who are have reached these goals. This would be your reserve of information. With this begin planning your steps. Think of what you can do that contributes to improving these skills in the next 21 days and think of which habits and routines would help you. Also start paying attention to feedback.
The second thing I figured out was the importance of designing routines and habits. To-do lists are useless if you haven't cultivated routines. People overestimate their willpower (especially after a movie like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag) and underestimate the automatic behaviors that usually dominate them.
The time (21days) isn’t something rigid or set in stone, it is just to get you started. Choose your own timelines but make sure they are long enough to bring about some permanent change[2].
The Peripherals:
The peripheral skills required and which are complementary to the core skills are discipline and humility.
You have to accept that failure and obstacles are a big part of any vision or design. You will have to focus on the feedback, improve your routine and sometimes take stock of your own long term goals. This will help you to stay grounded and avoid the element of grandiosity[3] which is often the cause of doom for any plans or vision. This will also help you to sharpen your skills at paying attention to feedback which in turn will make sure that you are not fooling yourself with your plans[4].
The Effects:
I have been working on this trait for some time and have gotten out a few results regarding it.
I started my experiment when I was riddled with two bad habits, anxiety and cluelessness.
Aim - Figure out a way out of the existing Conditions by setting long term goals and Designing routines to aid these goals.
Duration - The test/experimental duration was three weeks/21 days.
Plan - Staying Fit by working out every single day for almost an hour. (This would help resist the habits I wanted to rid myself of)
Benchmarks - Improving upon my workout and avoiding triggers that initiated the habits.
Plan - Starting to acquire two crucial skills which would aid me better in the future for work (Communication was one of them)
Benchmarks - Writing and practicing to speak to an official on a weekly basis.
It wouldn’t be easy to understand these goals, their relevance and how they impact me, but all I want for you to take away from this exercise is the fact that change happens when you think in terms of a definite optimist.
I missed the benchmarks sometimes but always improvised on my actions to get better outcomes. Try this the next time you want to initiate change, you don’t have to necessarily set life-changing goals or publicly broadcast them but you do need to take responsibility for them.
I had, after a long time some sense of what's next. I didn't spend time reacting to events in my life as they came up, wasting essential reserves of energy. My habits broke and anxiety reduced.
The Pop-Culture celebrates the indefinite future. It celebrates the stories where people live their life not knowing what comes next and apparently making it cool. It's reflected in the way students think as well. No longer do we pick and focus on 2-3 things to work on as our priorities, we are taught that the future is indefinite and the only way to survive is to create as diverse a resume' as possible.
-Jayesh
[2] To better understand this idea of long-form change. I recommend reading this article from the Farnam Street blog. < https://fs.blog/2016/03/five-percent-better/ >
This has also influenced me to a great degree. Anything important happens pretty damn slowly.
[3] Element of Grandiosity is a basic human nature that I borrowed from the book The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene. I’ll post a short clipping but I highly recommend reading the book.
[4] This thinking model is partially borrowed from Tim Urban’s Post on Wait But Why about how Elon Musk thinks. I am a fan of his blog posts and this one is certainly one of my favorites. A caution: This is a long-form blog so it would require some patience to read through.
< https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/11/the-cook-and-the-chef-musks-secret-sauce.html >
You’d (probably) go to your college daily, hang out with friends, maybe get your mind blown away by realizing that the days pass away ever so slowly but the semester ends too soon and be annoyed at that one guy who asks everyone,” Bro, what are your plans for the future?”(me).
Let’s take a step back from this, try and do this exercise with me. Visualize yourself after a week’s time, what can you see yourself doing? What do you think you’ll be spending your time working on? What do you think you’ve gained? What would you be looking forward to?
When I first did this exercise I was scared shit of the fact that I couldn't visualize my time and goals past a week or two. If you think that’s scary, how about thinking 6 months ahead or a year ahead? I'd be graduating from college in 2020 and I really can't visualize myself acting upon anything up till May 2020 or beyond(except for writing my finals). This is key to today’s post, a way of treating the future as something definite, which can be shaped according to a vision or a plan instead of it as being Hazy and indefinite, which can’t be shaped and is determined by a set of random events.
If you answered the above questions or just felt uncomfortable thinking about them, settle into a chair and read on further about this trait of Definite Optimism.
Definite Optimist, simply put, is someone who believes the future will be better if she plans and works to make it better[1].
When I think about definite optimism, I like to talk about the story of someone named Vikram Sarabhai. Sarabhai was an Indian physicist who’s credited as the father of the Indian space program.
Here’s a quote from one of his speeches on his vision for Space Research:
There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To us, there is no ambiguity of purpose….. But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems …..which we find in our country…..the application of sophisticated technologies and methods of analysis to our problems is not to be confused with embarking on grandiose schemes….rather than for progress measured in hard economic and social terms.His vision was clear and the execution of this vision played an important role in the coordinated space research program. Those who worked with him often were taken by his optimism, brilliant thinking and skills as an efficient leader.
From founding the Physical Research Laboratory (which has ongoing research on astronomy and astrophysics, earth sciences, theoretical physics, etc) to play an important role in setting up INCOSPAR (later to become ISRO) and holding the position of it's the first chairman.
Sarabhai was also a shrewd entrepreneur. He founded a number of industries to aid the space research and development movement. He along with Kasturbhai Lalbhai was primarily responsible for establishing IIM Ahemdabad.
This trait, Definite Optimism is shared among a number of successful people such as Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey and closer home Vikram Sarabhai and Abdul Kalam. This is one of the most important traits not just for individuals but also countries and their citizens (countries like Singapore surviving on limited resources yet thriving) and organizations and its employees (such as ISRO, SpaceX, Apple, etc.)
I first came upon the idea of Definite Optimism in Peter Theil's book Zero To One and have since attempted to extrapolate this concept into my life through introspection. For eg, setting up and leading organized space research in a country that could barely afford to feed its citizens post-independence requires more than just intelligence. Vikram Sarabhai was a definite optimist who could set up and follow through his plans, he believed in the power of technology in shaping the future of India.
Away from home, individuals like Elon Musk are definite Optimists, from Tesla to SpaceX, Musk's ventures play important roles in his vision of the future where interplanetary travel and a complete switch from automobiles dependent on fossil fuels is possible. Look at the definition and try to identify individuals around you who seem like definite optimists and you'll be surprised to know how many of us have long given up on the idea and instead rely on an indefinite future, which no one can predict or attempt to shape.
Try this with the people around you, ask around for their long term goals and watch out for signs of the ambiguity of purpose.
This is important to recognize in order to understand why Definite Optimism is rare. As Thiel says in his book,
Brilliant thinking is rare, but courage is in even shorter supply than genius
WAIT, HOW DO YOU BECOME A DEFINITE OPTIMIST?
This question would be the basis of the skills you need to be a definite Optimist. I like to think about these skills, divided into two categories, the core skills of the Optimists and the peripherals which are complementary to the core ones.The Core:
Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years. ~ Bill GatesThe Core skills which make up a Definite Optimist are, 'The ability to form a Vision and the ability to plan/design'
This is a delicate balance which is important to understand because it's very easy to fall in either category, either being someone with grand vision but zero design or plans to get there or having a great short term plan or design but no concrete vision.
To understand this balance we need to have a look at what I call the Optimist’s spectrum.
This spectrum defines the types of optimists that I have met. If you move to the left of the spectrum you’d meet the obsessive planners, the people who have a to-do list for everything not that there’s anything wrong with it (except maybe it’s scary), they live on a day to day basis, reacting and changing their plans every day or two. They still believe the future is going to be better, they just don’t know how it looks like yet.
As you move to the extreme right side of the spectrum we find the people with obsessive visions, they are the ones who might be able to talk about how the future might look like but have zero plans or designs to get there. They believe the future is going to be better, they just don’t know how to get there yet. They are also obsessively fixed on one singular vision, never paying attention to feedback and reflecting upon their vision.
As you come to the middle of the spectrum, we find definite optimist. The one who knows how they want the future to look like and it’ll be better but only if they plan and work towards it.
To practice setting a vision, you need to practice reflecting upon your values and desires.
Maybe you’d like to paint or bake or design or break an existing habit, think about how you’d want to achieve them. Read up on examples online or in books and talk to people who are have reached these goals. This would be your reserve of information. With this begin planning your steps. Think of what you can do that contributes to improving these skills in the next 21 days and think of which habits and routines would help you. Also start paying attention to feedback.
The second thing I figured out was the importance of designing routines and habits. To-do lists are useless if you haven't cultivated routines. People overestimate their willpower (especially after a movie like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag) and underestimate the automatic behaviors that usually dominate them.
The time (21days) isn’t something rigid or set in stone, it is just to get you started. Choose your own timelines but make sure they are long enough to bring about some permanent change[2].
The Peripherals:
The peripheral skills required and which are complementary to the core skills are discipline and humility.
You have to accept that failure and obstacles are a big part of any vision or design. You will have to focus on the feedback, improve your routine and sometimes take stock of your own long term goals. This will help you to stay grounded and avoid the element of grandiosity[3] which is often the cause of doom for any plans or vision. This will also help you to sharpen your skills at paying attention to feedback which in turn will make sure that you are not fooling yourself with your plans[4].
The Effects:
I have been working on this trait for some time and have gotten out a few results regarding it.
I started my experiment when I was riddled with two bad habits, anxiety and cluelessness.
Aim - Figure out a way out of the existing Conditions by setting long term goals and Designing routines to aid these goals.
Duration - The test/experimental duration was three weeks/21 days.
Plan - Staying Fit by working out every single day for almost an hour. (This would help resist the habits I wanted to rid myself of)
Benchmarks - Improving upon my workout and avoiding triggers that initiated the habits.
Plan - Starting to acquire two crucial skills which would aid me better in the future for work (Communication was one of them)
Benchmarks - Writing and practicing to speak to an official on a weekly basis.
It wouldn’t be easy to understand these goals, their relevance and how they impact me, but all I want for you to take away from this exercise is the fact that change happens when you think in terms of a definite optimist.
I missed the benchmarks sometimes but always improvised on my actions to get better outcomes. Try this the next time you want to initiate change, you don’t have to necessarily set life-changing goals or publicly broadcast them but you do need to take responsibility for them.
I had, after a long time some sense of what's next. I didn't spend time reacting to events in my life as they came up, wasting essential reserves of energy. My habits broke and anxiety reduced.
The Pop-Culture celebrates the indefinite future. It celebrates the stories where people live their life not knowing what comes next and apparently making it cool. It's reflected in the way students think as well. No longer do we pick and focus on 2-3 things to work on as our priorities, we are taught that the future is indefinite and the only way to survive is to create as diverse a resume' as possible.
The typical college student spends time creating a bewilderingly diverse resume' to prepare for a completely unknowable future. Come what may, he's ready-for nothing in particular.- Peter Thiel
The Conclusion
Vikram Sarabhai never pretended that there were no obstacles or insurmountable odds. He never said he could predict the future. What he was clear on were his values and his vision. I wouldn't want to convey that events in the future are exactly predictable but attempting to shape your own future and taking up real responsibility for it requires taking risks and hard work which most people including me shy away from. My goal was to get this concept out in the open and point people in this direction.-Jayesh
Notes and further readings:
[1] Zero To One by Peter Thiel. This concept and is fundamentally built upon Thiel’s original idea from the book. I highly recommend reading it.[2] To better understand this idea of long-form change. I recommend reading this article from the Farnam Street blog. < https://fs.blog/2016/03/five-percent-better/ >
This has also influenced me to a great degree. Anything important happens pretty damn slowly.
[3] Element of Grandiosity is a basic human nature that I borrowed from the book The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene. I’ll post a short clipping but I highly recommend reading the book.
[4] This thinking model is partially borrowed from Tim Urban’s Post on Wait But Why about how Elon Musk thinks. I am a fan of his blog posts and this one is certainly one of my favorites. A caution: This is a long-form blog so it would require some patience to read through.
< https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/11/the-cook-and-the-chef-musks-secret-sauce.html >
Loved it, you viewed the word optimism with a new perspective
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for reading!
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